Never Abandoned
by LizzySong
Summary: Takes place in season 2 between “The Collecter” and “RoZwell”. The team is forced to stop with an ailing 10K and realize how much they’ve come to care for each other. Lots of angst with some fluff at the end.


**Author's Note: Well, it's happened again. I have officially joined another fandom. This one was a request I got on my tumblr and it was super fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Requests are open on my tumblr @lizzysong, so feel free to stop over there and send a request! I'm completely caught up with the show, so I'll write for any season.**

 **Until the next fic!-LizzySong**

He was exhausted; he had been for a couple of days now. of course, everyone was exhausted, they'd been going nearly non stop for three days, but this felt like something else. He didn't feel... right. Not like himself. And Addy and Doc had noticed.

"That was an easy shot," Addy whispered to the older man, "He should've made that."

They were stopped at the side of the road while Warren and Vasquez were looking over the engine of the car. 10K, as usual, was standing watch for Zs, one of which had found the group and was advancing when he'd missed the head shot. ...Well, the first time; the second one went right between the eyes.

"Well, sometimes it takes more than one shot," Doc said.

"Yeah, but this is 10K we're talking about. He never misses a shot like that."

They heard the boy mumble something to himself about what number he was on, and exchanged a concerned look. He was never that quiet when he kept count.

They'd been back in the car a few hours now, Warren and Vasquez having fixed the engine, and Doc and Addy having made sure to put 10K between them to keep an eye on him and figure out exactly what was going on.

He was sleeping now, his head resting on Addy's shoulder, which was something that made her smile, sadly, reminding her of time spent with her brother before the apocalypse. She ran a hand through his hair and he turned a little, coughing quietly into her shoulder. The smile left her face then, quickly replaced with an expression of worry as she leaned over to nudge Doc, trying not to wake the boy up.

"Doc," she whispered, "Something's wrong. ...I think he's sick."

10K sat up slightly then with a groan, alerting both Doc and Addy. "What's goin' on?" He asked, a slight tone of anxiety in his raspy voice.

"Nothing, you just fell asleep for a while," Addy said reassuringly.

"Oh..." he seemed only half awake and like he wasn't fully comprehending his surroundings.

"You feeling okay, Kid?" Doc asked.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." He was slurring his words slightly and Addy shared a look with Doc before the man reached over and placed his hand on the boy's forehead.

"Shit, Kid! You're burning up!"

"Something wrong back there?" came Warren's voice from the driver's seat.

"No," 10K said, quickly followed by two exclamations of "Yes!" from Addy and Doc.

"Which is it?" Vasquez asked.

"We need to find a place for 10K to rest for a while," Addy said.

"I'm fine; really."

"No you're not, Kid. We gotta find a decent place for you to get a good night's sleep," said Doc gently.

"That kid's a liability," Murphy said.

Warren ignored the snide comment and addressed 10K, "We'll find you a place to rest; can you hang on a while longer?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. We don't have to stop — really. I just need a couple hours of sleep."

"We'll find a place," she said again and gave the boy a reassuring smile, "We could all use a break."

"I thought we were on a mission; why do we keep wasting time on that kid? I'm telling you, Warren, he's a liability," Murphy said, and 10K glared at the back of the man's head.

"Hey! If it weren't for 10K we would all be dead!" Addy said, instinctively wrapping her arm around the boy's shoulders in a protective, sisterly embrace. "Don't listen to the Smurf," she added, earning a small smile from 10K.

They drove for nearly another hour before they came across a motel which seemed mostly abandoned except for a few Zs. Roberta pulled into the parking lot and cocked her gun. "Okay. It looks like we've just got a couple of Zs in there, but be ready for anything. If there're too many, we scrap this spot and find somewhere else. Everybody got that?"

Everyone gave some form of verbal confirmation, if grudgingly in Murphy, and, to a lesser extent, Vasquez's cases, and made their way out of the car.

"You really think this is a good idea?" Vasquez asked in low voice.

"We've been going nonstop for three days," Warren said, "And 10K won't be the only one in bad shape if we don't stop to regroup. We'll stay here tonight and get moving again in the morning."

"And what if he gets worse?"

"Then we'll stay as long as we need to. We aren't leaving him behind."

"You sure you're okay to do this, Kid?" Doc asked, looking 10K over with a worried gaze when they got out of the car. He was looking worse for ware with dark circles under his eyes, the overall paleness of his face, and the fact that he seemed uncharacteristically unsteady on his feet just standing there.

"I'm fine, Doc. Really. I can handle this."

The old man wasn't convinced, and was about to say something more when he was interrupted by Warren.

"Okay, we're going in!" She said, and everyone readied themselves as they entered the building.

As Warren had predicted, there weren't more than ten zombies on the inside, and the team made quick work of them.

"Can they all be this easy?" Addy said with a small smirk as she twirled her Z-Whacker, earning smiles from Doc and Warren.

Their smiles were quickly replaced with frowns of concern, however, when they noticed 10K leaning against a wall, breathing far too heavily.

"Kid?" Doc asked, placing a firm but gentle hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I'm okay," 10K said unconvincingly before breaking out into a painful sounding coughing fit.

His gun fell to the floor as he put his hands on his knees to brace himself.

Addy quickly made her way over to the teenager, opposite side of Doc, and put a hand on his back. "It's okay," she said gently, "just try to breath."

He finally stopped after a minute and grabbed his gun off the ground before straightening up again. Doc wrapped a supportive arm around him to help keep him steady with a quiet, reassuring, "You're alright."

"We need to find you a bed," Roberta said, concern mixed in with her normal matter-of-fact tone, and the others nodded in agreement — except for Murphy who just rolled his eyes.

They managed to get the kid to a room, Doc half carrying him with how weak he was becoming, and the moment he was near enough to the bed he practically fell onto it.

"You gonna be okay in here for a little while?" Warren asked and 10K nodded in response, "Okay. We're going to see if there's any supplies left around here. Doc, you stay here with 10K—"

"—I'm gonna stay, too," Addy interjected, shooting an anxious glance at the boy.

"Alright," Roberta said with a nod, "We'll come back and check in again in an hour."

Addy nodded in confirmation and Roberta lead Vasquez and Murphy out of the room.

"I'm telling you—" Murphy started but was quickly cut off by Warren.

"—If you say he's a liability one more time you and me are going to have a problem," she stopped walking and turned to face the man, "That boy has saved your life more than once and put his own life at risk to do it. He's only sick because he's been overexerting himself to carry out the mission; which is protecting you and getting you to California. So I don't want to hear one more word about leaving 10K behind, you got that? We're going to give him time to recover and then we're getting back on the road."

"He is a child with a gun, Warren. That's it. He doesn't understand the gravity of the situation we're in."

"No, you don't understand the gravity of the situation. You've tried to get rid of us and stop us from getting to California as much as possible. The only thing you bring to the table is your blood; so if I were you, I'd start being a little more grateful that you're with us and not another group that would give you a lot less freedom."

"Oh my god," Addy said from where she was kneeling in front of the no longer running mini-fridge in the room, having decided to investigate the room and see if she could find anything useful. She turned to face Doc and 10K, holding a few small bottles in her hands. "Vodka. We should keep some for the med bag, but here," she walked over and handed one to Doc, who held it up in front of him as if giving a toast, "I think we could use a little pick-me-up. ...I'll save yours for when you're feeling better," she added to 10K, "You shouldn't mix aspirin and alcohol."

"You can have it," 10K said with a small, amused smile, "...Just don't tell Murphy you found it. There won't be any left for the med kit."

The three laughed a bit at that, though it was short lived as 10K's laugh quickly turned into another coughing fit. Doc and Addy helped him sit up and held him steady while he doubled over with the force of the cough, nearly falling off the bed.

"Okay; you're okay. Just get it out, that's it," Doc said reassuringly.

He eventually managed to stop coughing and was left feeling even weaker than before, leaning against Doc, who had protectively wrapped an arm around the boy.

"It hurts, Doc..." 10K mumbled, and the older man tightened his arm around the boy slightly.

"I know it does, Kid. But we're gonna get you better, okay?"

"Don't let them leave without me... I don't wanna be alone again..."

"Hey," Addy said firmly, "Nobody's leaving you behind."

10K turned to look at her with frightened, fever bright eyes that reminded her of the last time she saw her brother. "Promise?" he asked, and Addy pulled him into a tight hug.

"Promise."

"We would never leave you behind, Kid."

"Of course not. But you gotta get better so we can keep moving, okay? So get some sleep."

"Yeah, just relax for a while. We'll still be here when you wake up."

The teenager nodded slightly and his two self-appointed guardians helped him lie down again, Addy pulling back the covers and tucking him in when he was lying as comfortably as he could be.

"Maybe you should take your boots off," she said, but he shook his head.

"No. I need to be ready... in case we have to run..." he was already beginning to drift into sleep and Addy looked down at him sadly before exchanging a look with Doc, knowing that they were thinking the same thing: It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that the kid couldn't even properly rest because he knew he might need to run at any minute.

"Damn apocalypse," Doc said quietly and Addy nodded.

"There's nothing here," Roberta said in a defeated voice. They'd found an abandoned gas station and convenience store not too far from the motel, and though she really hadn't expected to find anything useful, it was still discouraging to come up empty handed.

"What were you expecting?" Murphy asked in an annoyed tone, "A fully stocked pharmacy?"

"You need to stop talking," Vasquez said, "You aren't helping anyone with your comments."

"I believe we've established that Warren is in charge of me; not you."

"Shut up, Murphy," Roberta said before turning to back to Vasquez, "We should head back. We can do more good for 10K there than we can here."

"Yeah, you're right," the man said with a slight nod and the three began to make their way back to the car. "...You know," he started carefully after a minute, "you might want to start thinking about what we'll have to do if the kid doesn't recover."

Warren shook her head, refusing to entertain the thought, "He'll recover."

"We have to face facts here. We don't have much in the way of medicine to treat him. ...He might not be able to fight it off himself."

"He'll recover," she said again, more forcefully than before.

"I just want you to be prepared; it'll be worse if you aren't."

"If the time comes, I will do what I have to. But I'm not going to give up on him yet."

"I don't think the aspirin's helping," Addy said, removing her hand from the still-sleeping 10K's forehead and turning to face Doc, "We got anything else that can kill a fever?"

"We barely even got any aspirin left. We could give him another one, but..."

"Yeah; if the first one didn't work giving him another probably won't do anything. ...What do you think he has?"

"Hard to say for sure, but if I had to guess, it seems like pneumonia."

"Shit. Doesn't he need antibiotics for that?"

"Depends on what kind he's got. Buy usually, yeah."

"Let me guess; we won't know until he's either better, or a lot worse."

Doc nodded slightly in conformation. "That's about it." He stood up and made his way over to Addy and 10K, sitting next to the young woman on the edge of the bed.

"...He's going to be okay, right?" Addy asked hesitantly after a few moments of relative silence except for the painful wheezing sounds coming from the boy with nearly every other breath.

"'Course he is. This kid has survived way too much to go out like this." But as he looked at him, he didn't feel so confident.

"'Cause I cant pike him, Doc," there was panic creeping into her voice, "I had to mercy my mom, and my brother, and Mack... I can't do it again. 10K's gotta be alright."

"Hey," Doc said as he put an arm around Addy. She turned into him, burying her face in his shoulder. "Nobody's piking anybody. 10K's going to be fine."

"...Doc...?" came 10K's weak voice and Doc and Addy turned to face him.

"Hey, Kid. It's okay; I'm here."

"How do you feel?" Addy asked, worry clear in her voice.

"...Well, I'm not dead yet, so..." said 10K with a slight smile.

"Fair enough," Doc said.

The boy slowly sat up with Addy's help and she placed her palm on his forehead again, as if expecting his fever to have broken within the past few minutes. Of course it hadn't, and she sighed.

"How about some water?" Doc asked, "You're probably dehydrated."

10K nodded a little and the older man stood up, making his way across the room and going through the medical bag until he found a canteen of water, which he brought back over.

"Thanks," 10K took the canteen and gulped down about half of it in a matter of seconds. "...Sorry," he said as he handed it back to the man, having realized how much he had taken.

"You need it more than we do right now."

Addy nodded in agreement and 10K smiled a little, leaning into her. She was about to have him lie back down when the three heard gunshots and Warren yelling something outside.

Addy leaned over the side of the bed and picked up her Z-Whacker while 10K instinctively reached for his gun, which wasn't at his side.

"...Where's my gun?" He asked Doc, anxiety in his eyes.

"You sure that's such a good idea? You're pretty sick, Kid."

"If it's zombies I need to be able to shoot."

Doc nodded slightly in agreement, "Yeah, alright." He leaned over the side of the bed as Addy had done, and brought 10K's gun up with him.

"Puppies and kittens people!" Roberta said, bursting in through the door, "We gotta go, now! 10K, we'll find you a new place to rest, but right now I need you to get moving, can you do that?"

The boy nodded and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Okay, then let's get out of here."

The four made their way to the front of the motel where Vasquez and Murphy were already waiting in the running car, Vasquez waiting at the ready in the driver's seat.

"Where the hell did they all come from?!" Addy yelled, taking out two zombies in one swing.

"No idea," Warren replied, shooting a Z that had come dangerously close to her, "Maybe they could smell us. It doesn't matter, we just need to get out of here. Doc? 10K? You're pretty quiet back there; you holding up okay?"

"I'm doing fine," Doc said, "But the kid's not looking so good."

It was true; the boy was audibly gasping for air with every breath and looked like he was about to pass out. "I'm fine." It was a lie, but even so, he managed to take out a Z that had come up behind Addy, "4,224."

"Hang in there, Baby Boy. We're almost out."

They made it to the car, all four piling into the backseat, first Doc, then 10K, Addy, and Warren, slamming the door shut as she yelled, "Drive!"

"How's he holding up?" Warren asked softly after a few minutes, looking over at the boy who was leaning against Doc's side, still trying to catch his breath. Addy just shook her head in response and Warren let out a quiet "Shit."

10K broke into a coughing fit, a painful one that wracked his body and hurt his chest, while Doc held him steady and Roberta and Addy watched helplessly.

"...I need... to get out..." the kid whispered to the older man between coughs.

"What?"

"Gotta... pull over..."

"Sure, Kid. Whatever you need," he turned his attention to Vasquez, "We need to pull over."

"No, what we need to do is keep moving."

"Just for a minute; 10K needs some air."

"You heard the man," Murphy said, "We need to keep moving."

"Just give him a minute!" said Addy, noticing just how bad he was looking.

"Just pull over for a minute," Warren said and Vasquez looked back at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the road with a sigh.

"Alright," he said, "but just for a minute." He pulled over to the side of the road and 10K immediately opened the door, scrambling over Doc to get outside.

He continued to cough and gasp until he finally managed to stop and catch his breath, spitting out whatever he had coughed up onto the ground with a groan before making his way back into the car. Vasquez turned to Warren again with a pointed look, but she just shook her head in response.

"Feel any better?" Doc asked and 10K nodded slightly.

"Yeah... a little."

They drove in silence again for a couple of hours, 10K fell asleep shortly after he'd returned to his seat, his head resting on Doc's shoulder. Addy had also fallen asleep, one of her arms linked with one of 10K's as she sunk into her seat. Doc and Warren, on the other hand were wide awake, anxiety for the young man preventing them from relaxing enough to rest.

He was getting worse — fast — and if they couldn't figure out what do quick enough... Well it could only get worse from here.

They found a small, abandoned town and Vasquez pulled up in front of a house.

"Why is it not making me feel better that there aren't any Zs?" Warren said, and Doc let out a soft laugh.

"Hopefully no zombies means no people. We'll stay here until the kid's better, assuming we don't have any more surprises."

"Because this group is so great at not having inconvenient surprises," Murphy scoffed.

"Well this is the best we got for now," Vasquez said and the others nodded, except for Murphy, who rolled his eyes.

"Addy," Warren said, gently shaking the younger woman's shoulder.

Addy woke with a start, "What's going on?"

"We found a spot to stay for the night. No Zs in sight, but I still need you to be ready."

Addy nodded and grabbed her Z-Whacker from the floor of the car.

"Doc, can you handle 10K?" Warren asked and the man nodded.

"Yeah, I got him."

"Okay, then let's go."

The rest got out of the car while Doc woke 10K up with a gentle, "Hey, Kid. You gotta get up."

"...What's goin' on...?"

"We found a safe place to stay."

"...Zombies...?"

"No zombies. But you gotta get up so we can get you inside, okay?"

The boy nodded slightly and slowly sat up with the older man's help. They made it to the others just in time to see the door to the house they were about to break into open up... from the inside.

"Who the hell are you, and what do you want?" A young woman, not much older than Addy, asked in a calm, dangerous tone as she pointed a gun in front of her.

Warren raised her hands, "We're just looking for a place to stay the night. One of the members of our group isn't doing so well and we're trying to find a place for him to rest." She turned her head in 10K and Doc's direction and the young woman followed her gaze.

The hardness in her eyes softened immediately at the sight of the boy. "...What's wrong with him?" She asked.

"We're not sure," Addy said, "We think it might be pneumonia. ...Please. We've been driving all day, and the last spot we found was overrun by Zs. Just let us stay tonight and we'll be on our way as soon as the sun comes up."

The other woman nodded, lowering her gun and going inside, gesturing for the others to follow her.

"I don't have much in the way of space, but you're welcome to rest wherever there's room. ...I'd suggest giving the boy the sofa, though," she added as she looked over 10K.

The group made themselves as comfortable as they could, Doc and Addy sitting on the floor in front of the sofa where 10K was already asleep, Vasquez stood watch in front of a window that took up a good portion of the living room, Murphy sat in the one armchair that was positioned across from the sofa and Warren had gone with the young woman to the kitchen to talk.

"...Why do I get the feeling we're gonna have to bolt in the middle of the night?" Doc asked.

"Because we're not allowed to find a decent place with people who aren't insane," Murphy said, "You can't trust people who seem nice. You also can't trust people who don't seem nice. You just can't trust people. Period."

"So what's your story?" The woman asked Warren as she rummaged through a drawer.

"What do you mean?"

"I've met a lot of people over these past few years, and the one thing I've learned is that everyone's got a story."

"Why don't we start with your story? What's your name?"

"Eliana."

"And how long have you been here, Eliana?"

"Since day one."

"Why haven't you moved on?"

"I've been safe here. Since that hoard went through here, all the zombies left. It's so secluded that when a few Zs do come through they're not much of an issue."

Warren nodded a little to show her understanding and they were quiet for a minute before Eliana spoke again, "...Is he your son?"

"I'm sorry?"

"The boy. You seem to really care for him, so I thought maybe he was yours."

"...Oh. Well, he's something like that. We all look out for him. He's been with us for over a year now."

"You seem to have quite the crew there."

"We do."

"...Pneumonia, right?"

"Best guess."

"Then this should work. ...Even if it's something else, if it's bacterial this should kill it." Eliana held up a bottle she'd gotten from the drawer she'd been looking through and Warren finally looked down at the contents of said drawer. It was filled with numerous medication bottles and she gave the woman a suspicious look.

"What's all that?"

"Antibiotics, pain killers, fever reducers — anything I could get my hands on that might be useful."

"How did you get all of it?"

Eliana sighed, "...Before the apocalypse I... had a sister. She had an immunodeficiency, so I stocked up on antibiotics and anything and everything that could kill a fever. I'd fake sick just to get them. That was before day one even hit; I just always wanted to be prepared. ...She lasted about a year, but... she became resistant to all the medications I had. ...She mercy-ed herself one day when I was gone trading for supplies. ...Now I just... wait for people to come through here. Help 'em if I can. It's what she would've wanted me to do. Sometimes people hear about me and come to try an rob me, but for the most part it's good people who just need some help. Like you."

Roberta began to speak when they were interrupted by the sound of coughing from the living room. Eliana hurried in, Warren close behind her, finding 10K leaning halfway off the sofa, coughing his lungs out, as Addy and Doc sat diligently on either side of him to keep him steady.

"Are you gonna be doing that all night?" Murphy asked, looking over at the boy and earning disapproving glares from both Doc and Addy.

"Well, that definitely sounds like pneumonia," Eliana said as she made her way over to the trio, ignoring Murphy and opening the bottle of medication. She handed 10K one of the pills, "Take this, it'll help."

"Now wait a minute," Doc said, "What exactly are you giving him?"

"Levofloxacin."

10K gave her, and then Doc, a questioning look, but Doc smiled a little. "Take it kid, that's good stuff. Where in the hell did you get that kinda antibiotic in the middle of the apocalypse?" He added to the young woman.

"It's a long story; but here," she handed the man the bottle, "They're expired, but they'll still work. Just up the dose a little — maybe do two a day until he improves, then do one a day until he's recovered and two more days after that just to make sure it doesn't come back."

"You a doctor or something?" Addy asked.

"Or something," Eliana replied, getting a smile from Doc while Addy just eyed her suspiciously, her arm's wrapped protectively around 10K, his head resting on her shoulder as he leaned into her side and started to drift back into sleep. He was shivering a little, and Addy could feel the heat radiating from him.

Eliana noticed this and looked up at Addy, not perturbed by the the suspicion from the young woman. "Fever?" She asked and Addy nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah... it's just been getting worse. Nothing's really helped — not that we had much to try."

"Well I've got something that should help. I'll be right back." She stood up and was about to make her way back to the kitchen when Addy spoke again.

"Why are you helping us?"

"Because... I know how it feels to lose your family, and I want as few people as possible from feeling that."

Addy gave her a small, sad smile of understanding and nodded slightly.

The night went by slowly, with Doc and Addy taking turns sleeping and watching over 10K the first half of the night, until Warren insisted they both rest while she kept an eye on the boy.

Eliana had given him her room so that it would be easier for both him and the rest of the group to sleep.

He was restless, and even with the medications Eliana had given him, was still burning with a fever, but he managed to sleep most of the night. The coughing fits were less intense than they had been, and only woke him up twice, once with Doc at his side to comfort him and once with Warren there, fiercely protective in an almost maternal way.

"You're gonna be alright," she whispered, placing a gentle but firm hand on his upper back as the boy coughed. It sounded as though his lungs were trying to rip themselves free from his chest and she winced with every cough as though she could feel it.

He shook his head slightly in response. "You're... gonna have to... pike me..." he said between coughs, sounding almost ashamed of what he was saying.

"Hey," Roberta said, turning him to look at her when he finally managed stop coughing, "That is not going to happen. You are going to take that medicine, and you're gonna get better, understand? I need my sniper."

He smiled slightly, though it faded quickly, replaced with an earnestness that almost broke her heart. "But... if I do need mercy," he said, his voice hoarse and tired, "It has to be you. I don't want to make Doc or Addy do it, and Murphy... he'd make me like Cassandra. ...If I need it... I want it to be you."

"Okay," she said gently, trying not to show just how much it hurt to hear the kid talk about his own death. "Okay," she said again, not trusting herself to say anything more.

10K wrapped his arms around her then, whispering "Thank you."

He returned to sleep shortly after that, and didn't wake up again until morning.

By the time he did wake up again, the previous twenty four hours were something of a feverish blur. He remembered everything in pieces and the details escaped him, but when he turned over and saw Warren asleep on the floor next to the bed, he felt reassured that he wouldn't be abandoned — not by this small, makeshift family that had found him — and he felt safe for the first time since Day One.

They were back on the road again later that day, and Warren hadn't mentioned what 10K had asked of her the night before — she wasn't sure he even remembered — though Doc and Addy filled him in on every other aspect of the previous day.

She smiled as she listened to Addy and Doc recount the events of the day before, but kept a wary eye on 10K through the rearview mirror, praying she would never have to carry out her promise.

"You still managed to take out a Z right behind me, even though you looked like you were about to pass out, by the way," Addy said with a smirk.

"Yeah," Doc said, and everyone could hear the pride in his voice, "Number 4,224."

10K smiled and laughed a little, which quickly turned into a cough; not as bad as the previous day, but enough for the group to be concerned. Addy and Doc each instinctively placed a hand on the boy's upper back and Warren frowned from the driver's seat. "Baby Boy?" She asked.

"I'm fine," 10K said when he'd finished, "Just a little tired, still."

"Well get some rest. I need you ready to fight when we get to... wherever it is we end up next."

The boy nodded slightly, "Yeah, okay."

"C'mere," said Addy, pulling him into her side, and he smiled a little as he rested his head on her shoulder.

They really had become a small family over the past, almost two years now, and he couldn't help but think maybe even the apocalypse had it's good points.


End file.
